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RECITAL REVIEW
January 14, 2006
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By Mickey Butts
Quite unlike vampires or werewolves, parents of young children are creatures of the daytime. At dawn, their offspring rouse them mercilessly from their sleep, and after much preparation, out the family stumbles with stroller, toys, diaper bag, and snacks in tow, in search of new and unusual ways to divert and possibly even uplift their little urchins on a rainy weekend afternoon. Theirs is the realm of the family matinee, that quasicultural event that their previously childfree and nocturnal selves would have positively shunned.
In that spirit, my family ventured out on an intermittently rainy Saturday afternoon to see mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade and composer/pianist Jake Heggie's delightful one-hour San Francisco Performances matinee at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. It was this parent/critic's experiment in reviewing under battle conditions — made possible by the generous help of my wife, Val, as I attempted to take what notes I could. And it was the first classical music concert my 14-month-old son, Rudy, had experienced in his young life. With von Stade at the helm, it was not a bad choice for a first live concert.
This was that rare setting in which kids were not only tolerated, but celebrated, despite the relatively high number of audience members without kids who showed up to catch a glimpse of von Stade, or "Flicka" to her loyal fans. I felt naughty being in a place with my family where just a few hours later the tiniest peep would have elicited horrored looks and persistent shushing. Over the rustling, whining, and "outside voice" mutterings of the assembled kids of all ages, my son's occasional call-and-response vocalizing didn't seem to stand out too much. (But thank goodness the concert was only an hour long.)
Von Stade didn't fail to deliver on the kid-friendly goods, which makes sense, considering that she is a mother, stepmother, and grandmother. She worked the crowd like a vaudeville entertainer, jumping rope, donning a chef's hat, speaking in a ridiculous French accent, and generally having a great time. "Who likes to sing?" she asked as she warmed up the munchkin crowd. Then all of a sudden her West Highland white terrier, Hannah, ran on stage, her pink leash whipping around behind her. "She was going to make her debut later," quipped von Stade as her dog stole the show, not for the last time. Von Stade went on to demonstrate convincingly that singing is not only interesting and beautiful, but a whole lot of fun. Rudy was mesmerized with the opening number, Leonard Bernstein's ethereal Greeting. With Dead Man Walking composer Jake Heggie providing fluid and understated accompaniment, von Stade sang with wide eyes and hands spread out, milking the moment and delivering with crisp diction the hushed opening line, "When a child is born, the world is born again and takes its first breath." Other numbers included "Civet á Toute Vitesse" (Rabbit at Top Speed) from Bernstein's La Bonne Cuisine, topped off with said chef's hat and French accent, and Lee Hoiby's The Serpent, about a serpent who likes to sing, complete with fake snake prop, which von Stade threw out, rock star-like, to a kid in the audience. Her voice, perhaps a little tired that day, was a touch diffuse and gravelly in the lower register on this song. She lost Rudy around this point, too, but what can you expect from a one-year-old?
Heggie stood up and gave a mini-lesson about opera singing, then introduced the next five pieces from a song cycle he composed in 1998, Songs to the Moon, commissioned by San Francisco Performances founder and president Ruth Felt. These jaunty songs are populated with mathematicians, haughty snail-kings, rattlesnakes, and a jump-rope-skipping Griffin — perfect for the preschool set. When she hit the top of her range, von Stade's luminous voice came through with precision and power. She concluded with three songs by Gustav Mahler — Liebst du um Schõnheit (If you love for beauty), Rheinlegendchen (Little Rhine Legend), and Lob des hohen Verstandes (Praise of Lofty Intellect). This parent/reviewer unfortunately lost focus during these lovely songs, as Rudy started vocalizing more insistently, naturally during the pin-drop-quiet moments, and then finally dropped his bottle under the seat in front of us. But no matter, because all the kiddies were reenergized with von Stade's rousing finale of "Do Re Mi" from the Sound of Music. Next, half the children in the audience trooped up on stage for that sing-along favorite, Bought Me a Cat, and commenced generating copious animal noises on cue. Then just like that, everyone stopped singing and milled around on stage, petting Hannah the dog, as von Stade sat down and hung out, her legs dangling over the edge of the stage. Kids came up and headed straight for the dog, oblivious to the opera diva in their midst, until parents reminded them to say "thank you" to the nice opera singer. Likewise, the Alameda resident was at home with her hometown audience, utterly unpretentious and gracious as she greeted friends, tossed the dog a ball, and made some new friends among the future fans of the next Eminem, and it can he hoped, of the classical music superstars to be.
Upcoming San Francisco Performances musical family matinees include Brazilian jazz vocalist Luciana Souza (March 25) and classical guitarist Antigoni Goni (April 2).
(Mickey Butts is executive director and publisher of San Francisco Classical Voice. His writing has appeared in Salon, Food & Wine, The Industry Standard, Wired, Parenting, Sunset, The Nation, and The San Francisco Chronicle.)
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Frederica von Stade 
